How To Remove That Fish Smell Out Of Your Home
Serving fish for dinner? While it’s a great meal idea, figuring out how to get the fish smell out of your house can be a hassle. How can you enjoy cooking and serving this to your family without making your home smell like a fish market?
Why does fish smell?
Believe it or not, there is a scientific reason to why fish smells, well fishy.
The fishy smell comes from the natural breakdown of fat and acid compounds, specifically, trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) and its transition to trimethylamine (TMA) as the fish is exposed to air. It may taste great, but “fish” is not a scent homeowners want lingering in their homes.
Tip to preventing fishy cooking odours
With a proactive approach, you can reduce the smell of fish before you even start cooking.
- Purchase the freshest, highest quality your food budget allows
- Choose a milder type, for example, tilapia, turbot, sole and cod
- Rinse the raw meat in cold water to remove odour-causing TMA and bacteria
- Soak the raw meat in milk for 20 minutes, the milk casein protein binds to the TMA and reduces odour
- Cook with an acid like lemon or vinegar which reacts with the TMA, reducing the smell
- Open windows and kitchen hood vents while cooking
Removing fish smell from your home
If the deed has been done and the cooking is complete, you probably aren’t as concerned about preventing the odour as you are about getting it out of your house! No homeowner wants to be embarrassed by how their house smells.
- Store leftovers in tightly sealed containers in the fridge
- Clean the kitchen immediately after cooking, a lemon or citrus-scented cleaning product can help combat the smell
- Baking something sweet can help as the smell will often replace the fish smell
If you are worried that the smell is not being removed from your home and is lingering, contact Rainbow Derbyshire on 01623 443109 or [email protected].